Family
by Nix1978
Summary: Written for the Prentiss Mystery Challenge. Emily realises how much her team means to her
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything**

**I actually wrote this yesterday. Posting this is quite hard after hearing today's horrible news. I'm feeling very sad right now!**

**Family**

Garcia came bounding into the bullpen carrying a box wrapped in bright pink paper, with a massive purple bow. Emily saw her coming and couldn't help but smile at her, but was also cringing at the embarrassment she was about to encounter, especially with the balloon Garcia had trailing behind her.

"Happy Birthday my favourite, kick ass profiler!" she said as she handed Emily the present and gave her a big Garcia kiss.

"Hey baby girl, I'm supposed to be your favourite!" Morgan interrupted.

"Morgan, Emily is both a Goddess and a salsa dancer as I recently found out! That makes her my favourite. Deal with it!"

"Salsa dancing?" Morgan said raising an eyebrow at Emily. Once again he thought how much he didn't know about this woman!

"Thanks Penelope. Should I open this now?" Emily asked worried that whatever Garcia had got her may not be appropriate for opening in the middle of the bullpen.

"No, you can wait till your party tonight."

"Party? I thought we were just having a drink?"

"Well that's a party….. make sure you're not late!"

Emily wasn't really in the mood for a party. Since getting the news that Ian Doyle was on the run, she really hadn't been in the mood for anything. She had told her team mates about Doyle being on the run, but had totally played down how much danger she was in. She had to tell them as she had to meet up with her old team from Interpol a few times and needed a bit of time away from work. She knew Morgan was already suspicious that there was more to this than she was letting on so she agreed to the party to try and put him off the scent. It would also get Garcia off her back and take her mind off things she guessed.

That night they all went to Garcia's for the 'party'. All the team were there….. Hotch, Rossi, Reid, Morgan, Garcia and JJ! Garcia had managed to keep JJ a secret from Emily all day and was extremely pleased with herself when she saw the happiness on Emily's face as JJ walked in. They had all had a few drinks and were pretty merry. It had been a long time since they had all let their hair down like this.

Emily watched her team mates and it made her feel warm inside…and the wine certainly helped. She loved times like this…they were all so different to when they were working. At that moment, sat in that room, she realised how much she loved them all. They weren't like her family, they _were_ her family. With everything going on…. the threat that Emily was facing, it made her think about her own mortality. She wanted them all to know how she felt and with the wine swirling round her head, she decided that now was the right time.

Emily took a deep breath, "hey guys".

JJ and Garcia stopped talking and looked at her, but the others didn't hear her.

"Guys!" she raised her voice.

That got all their attention.

"I err….. I know this is a bit weird, and it's probably because of the wine, but I just wanted to say something."

"What's the matter Emily?" JJ said looking concerned.

"Oh no….. nothing's wrong, I just was thinking that I never tell you guys…"

"What? What don't you tell us?" Reid asked.

"Ok, so I'm embarrassed now, but I'm just going to say it anyway…You guys are an amazing bunch of people and I want you to know that I think of you as my family…."

They all were looking at her in shock. It was not very often they saw this side of Emily Prentiss.

"…..Rossi, you're a friend, a confidant and a mentor to me. You believed in me without question at a time I needed someone to believe in me the most. You are like a rock and you always know the right thing to say. You are one of the best listeners I know, not to mention very charming…..whoever turns out to be the final Mrs Rossi will be a lucky lady….."

They all let out a little laugh as Rossi raised his glass and winked at Emily.

"Hotch, you are an incredible leader and teacher. You never fail to amaze me. With everything you have been through, how you get through every day with the drive and integrity you do is beyond me. Jack is a credit to you and if he grows up to be half the man you are, he will be a lucky boy….."

Hotch gave her a small smile, fighting back the thoughts of Hayley.

"Reid, you are the irritating little brother I never had….." and she winked at him…."you are truly one of the most incredible people I have met. I know you will go on to achieve things that most could only ever dream of. And make sure you think about producing some of those baby geniuses we spoke about."

Reis let out a little embarrassed laugh.

"JJ and Pen, you are the sisters I never had. JJ you are incredible….. so together, grounded and truly a loss to this team….believe me when I say it will never be the same without you. Henry is adorable and will no doubt grow up to break as many hearts as you do… Pen, you are the most amazing woman I have the pleasure of knowing. Your ability to see the good in everything and everyone in this dark dark world should be an inspiration to us all. You make me feel good every single day. Please _never never_ change."

Both JJ and Garcia had tears in their eyes…but they were happy tears.

Emily then turned to face Morgan. He was just staring at her. She took a deep breath and they could all see she was now fighting back the tears.

"Morgan… I really don't know where to start…."

"Stop!" Morgan said quietly, but firmly. They all turned to look at him, taken aback by his bluntness.

"What are you doing?" JJ asked annoyed with him.

"Can't you see what she's doing?" he turned to face JJ.

"What are you talking about Morgan? The poor girl is pouring her heart out here…..what's wrong with you?"

"You can't see it?"

Thay all continued to look at him, not knowing what to say.

"She's saying goodbye!" Morgan was almost shouting.

They all turned to look back at Emily, willing her to explain.

She didn't say anything, just looked at Morgan. Pleading with her eyes for him to stop.

Morgan continued…"You're going away aren't you? There's more to this Doyle guy than you've told us right?"

"I….. I have to."

"What do you mean you're going away? What for?" Reid asked her.

"I have to go, just until we find him."

"You mean you're offering yourself up as bait?" Morgan asked her angrily.

She didn't answer him. They all realised that Morgan had got it spot on.

Morgan shook his head and said, "this is bullshit!" and he stormed out of the room.

They all turned to look back at her.

"Is he right Emily?" Rossi asked

"I errrr, I need to go and speak to Morgan." And she walked off after him. They all watched her leave wandering what on earth was going on.

Emily walked down the stairs and out of the apartment building. She found Morgan with both hands up against the wall. He was breathing heavily.

"Hey." She said softly.

He didn't answer her. Just glanced at her and then looked back down at the wall.

She moved over towards him, took hold of one of his arms and pulled him round to face her.

"Why are you so mad with me?"

"Emily, why didn't you tell us how serious this was?"

She looked down and then looked him back straight in the eyes.

"You never let me finish in there."

"I don't wanna hear it. I don't want you to go anywhere."

"Shhh" she said and placed one finger on his lips…. "let me speak…" and he did as he was told.

"From the day I met you, you made me feel a part of this team. You are one of the kindest, sweetest guys I have ever met. I know that the only thing on your mind is to do the right thing. You care about people….you make them feel good. I know there isn't a bad bone in your body…..that's why I always support you without question. I would trust you with my life every day for the rest of my life…" she stopped for a second and swallowed, trying to steady herself….."the truth is, and I know this sounds weird, but you are my best friend…."

"Emily…please, I can't listen to this….."

"Ok…..let me show you then….." and she leaned forward and gave him a sweet kiss. It was the sweetest kiss he had ever had. At that moment, Morgan thought back to all the times they had had together. She had always been loyal to him and she was right, she was his best friend. The truth was, she was the most incredible woman he had ever met.

"Don't go Emily, please….." and he held his forehead to hers.

"I love you Derek Morgan" and she kissed him again, letting it linger for a few seconds….. "C'mon, let's get back to the others." She took hold of his hand and went to lead him back upstairs.

But he tugged her back, "No, you can't say that and then just walk away from me…..if you go away you're signing your own death warrant and you know it."

"I'm not, it'll be fine…." She knew that wasn't true. There was every possibility she wouldn't be coming back. Her old team couldn't guarantee her safety, but it was the only way to stop Doyle and save a whole bunch of other lives. She turned and went to walk back upstairs…..

"What if I told you I love you too…. That you have something to stay for… would you still go?"

Emily stopped dead in her tracks…..


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to anything **

Chapter 2

Emily stood, rooted to the spot. She didn't expect to hear that from him. Without turning to face him she answered, "Derek, you don't have to say it back just to get me to stay. That's not why I said it."

He walked up so he was stood right behind her, his chest lightly touching her back. He gently moved her hair from the side of her face exposing her beautiful neck. He leaned over her shoulder, feather kissed her neck and whispered, "I said it because I mean it, not just to get you to stay."

She turned to face him, "I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll stay."

"I…..I don't know. I need to think about it some more."

Morgan realised she wasn't just going to change her mind. She was a strong willed woman and that's one of the things he loved about her…. she challenged him. He kissed her forehead and said, "Ok. We can talk about this tomorrow…..let's go and enjoy the rest of your birthday….besides, I haven't given you your present yet."

"You got me a present?"

"Of course princess. It's upstairs in my jacket….come on." He took her hand and led her back up to Garcia's apartment.

As they walked back in all went quiet. They had obviously been talking about her and they all just stared at the two of them.

"Guys, let's forget what just happened and enjoy the rest of the night ok? We can sort this tomorrow when we're back in work." Morgan instructed them all.

It took a few minutes for everything to settle, but the awkwardness was soon gone and they all got back to having a good time. It didn't stop Hotch and Rossi throwing Morgan knowing glances though. They all knew they would have to work miracles to stop her from going.

The end of the night came and Hotch, Rossi and Reid left first. JJ gave her friend a hug….a tighter hug then usual Emily noticed, "Thanks for coming JJ. It was great to see you." Emily said with a loving smile.

"Hey, you're not getting rid of me that easily…..I'll see you tomorrow at Quantico."

"But…." Emily started to protest.

JJ shook her head, "Don't even bother, because I'm coming whether you like it or not." And she gave her a kiss on the cheek before going to meet Will who was waiting outside for her.

Emily then turned to Garcia who had a tear in her eye. Emily walked over to her and hugged her, "Thanks Garcia, I had a great night. I'll see you tomorrow ok? Love you Pen."

Garcia couldn't say anything back. She was chocked. Morgan gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek and winked at her. He leaned in and whispered to her, "It'll be ok baby girl. We'll fix this."

He then turned to Emily, "C'mon, the cab's waiting outside, let me get you home safe and sound."

They got into the cab and Morgan turned to face Emily looking nervous, "Listen, don't take this the wrong way….. do you want to come to mine? …. only to be on the safe side of course. You can take the spare bedroom. I just want to know you are ok with that lunatic still out there….I don't want you to be on your own."

Emily giggled at him. She was a bit tipsy from the wine still.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked her.

"You Morgan, all tongue tied….."

Morgan frowned and Emily felt a little guilty.

"Hey… I was just kidding…" and she put her hand on his knee…"Yes, I'll come back to yours. Thank you."

They walked into his living room and she collapsed on his sofa just as if she had done it a thousand times before. Of course she hadn't…..but he loved the fact she felt at home so quickly…..although he thought that was probably the wine too.

He went over and sat next to her, "Hey, I still didn't give you your present." He reached into his jacket pocket and bought out a little box. Emily looked at him surprised and curious. She took it from him and slowly opened it…. Inside was a beautiful crystal butterfly.

"Derek, it's really pretty…..did you pick this?"

"Of course. My sister's loved this kind of stuff growing up. As soon as I saw it I got if for you. I didn't know if you'd like it though."

"It's the prettiest thing I've seen. Thank you." and she leaned over to give him a kiss. It was a small peck on the lips at first which quickly turned into a deep warm kiss…..after a short while she pulled back slightly and quietly said to him, "I'm tired. I think it's bed time."

"Ok, I'll just go make up the spare room." and he went to get up.

Emily took hold of his arm…."No, don't go to any trouble…..I can just sleep in yours. Right?"

Morgan raised an eyebrow at her and then smiled, "you sure?"

"Uh huh," she nodded and smiled back at him.

He led her to his bedroom where they shared a wonderful night together…he just hoped it wouldn't be the last.

The next day the team assembled in the briefing room including JJ as she had promised. Morgan and Prentiss were both late. Nobody suspected anything apart from Garcia and JJ. Of course, being women, they were much better at reading the signs. Morgan had not taken his eyes off Emily all night the night before. The others may think it was his protectiveness, but the girls could tell there was more to it than that.

"Do you think we can stop her going?" Reid asked Hotch with a worried look on his face.

"I don't know Reid…. She obviously hasn't told us the full story." Hotch replied.

"Well whoever he is, he sure has rattled her…..Morgan was right, that was a goodbye speech she gave last night." Rossi added.

"There's got to be something we can do from here sir." Garcia pleaded.

"Garcia, we will do everything in our power to help her, I promise you." Hotch told her gently.

As he did Morgan walked in, followed by Emily….. JJ couldn't help but smirk at her friend. Emily caught that look and gave an embarrassed smile back. She then became aware of everyone looking at her….

"Oh….guys. Look I'm sorry about last night. I guess the wine got the better of me…..it does that sometimes…..you know….gets me all emotional and stuff," and she gave a small nervous laugh.

No-one laughed back at her though….all of them getting increasingly worried.

Hotch was the first to speak, "Prentiss, tell us everything. We need to know it all so we can help you."

"I don't know if you can Hotch…..he just wants me. I've got to tempt him out of hiding."

"Emily, you don't know that until you tell us everything….come on, tell us". Rossi urged her.

"Ok….." she started looking nervous…."As you know I was seconded to Interpol for a couple of years to a team assisting the CIA in investigating an organised crime gang in Europe. They were supplying arms to an organisation in the Middle East who were a threat to the US. I'm not sure of the extent of the threat….it was not information we were privy to, but I don't think it has any relevance to this now. Part of the reason I was seconded to that team was because I could speak Russian. We were sent over there to work with the Russian authorities to help gather intelligence on this group. One of the main players was Ian Doyle. He had a girlfriend over here in Virginia so he was travelling to the States quite often. Her name was Carrie Ann. To cut a very long story short, the CIA had gathered enough on him and others in the group and they were moving to an arrest phase. There were some issues on the day of the arrests and as I was a FBI Agent they asked me to take a team to arrest Doyle from Carrie Ann's house. When we got there I went in alone through the front door…." She paused for a couple of seconds and took a deep breath…."Carrie Ann was stood in her living room holding a gun in front of her. I shouted for her to put it down, but she shook her head and told me that Doyle had told her she had to kill anyone who came to get him, especially cops. He had brain washed her….I pleaded with her to put it down but she wouldn't. She raised the gun towards me so I shot her…..I had to…"she sounded like she was trying to convince herself…."I didn't know….."

Emily had tears in her eyes.

"What didn't you know Emily?" Rossi asked her softly.

Emily gulped, "When then did the post mortem they said she was about 3 months pregnant….I didn't know. She wasn't showing. And she was only seventeen years old". A solitary tear ran down her face.

"You couldn't have known." JJ said.

"Even if you did, you would still have had to shoot her…..it was you or her…." Morgan said matter of factly.

"I know" she whispered…..she composed herself and carried on….."Anyway, Doyle wasn't at the house when we went for him. He obviously found out that I had shot her and he came after me when I was off duty one day. Luckily for me he didn't go straight for the kill. He took me hostage and beat me up pretty bad… he wanted to torture me. I managed to get away from him though."

"What did he do to you?" Reid asked.

"That's not important now, but as I ran from him, he vowed that he would find me and kill me…..I could see the hatred for me in his eyes…..I killed his baby and his girlfriend. We eventually found out that he fled back to Russia to hide as that's where most of his contacts were. Eventually they found him and he was locked up in a Russian jail…until he escaped of course. My old boss has spoken to the Russian authorities. The prison guards at the prison have said that he was obsessed over getting revenge….so much so, the guards know all about me. It's all he's spoken about for years…..there's no doubt he's coming for me. If we don't find him, he will keep killing….he's already killed four people in Russia….all completely innocent. That's why we have to find him…..I don't want anymore blood on my hands."

"Prentiss, this isn't your fault." Hotch stated.

"Hotch, if it wasn't for me, these people wouldn't be dying. I have to do something to find him. If I show myself, he'll come to me, then we can lock him back up."

"You can do that from here." Rossi told her.

"We think he's still in Russia though."

"If he wants revenge that bad, he will come over here right?" Rossi told her.

"I guess, but how many more people will have to die before he does?"

"Prentiss…" Hotch began…"Let us at least try. We have a great team here, let us try and find as much as we can here…..I will call some favours in."

"Ok, but I can't wait too long Hotch."

Morgan and JJ shot each other a glance, both looking relieved. Hotch began to give out his orders.

"Prentiss, we don't know that Doyle isn't already here. Just to be on the safe side Morgan you stick to her like glue, ok?"

"Of course." Morgan looked at Emily and winked.

The fact that Emily didn't protest only confirmed to JJ what she had suspected.

JJ waited for the rest of the team to leave the room so her and Emily were alone.

She walked over to her friend and sat down next to her. Emily had her head in her hands, resting on the table. JJ gently put her hand on Emily's shoulder.

"Hey, how you holding up?"

"I'm tired JJ, so tired."

"Something tells me that one of the reasons for that tiredness just walked out this room."

Emily turned, looked at JJ and gave a little laugh.

"So. Come on, spill woman!"

"Oh god JJ, I don't do things be halves do I? Yes. Last night something did happen between us… and it was the first time by the way contrary to what everyone may think."

"It's long overdue if you ask me."

"May be…..but it just felt right. I guess I figured there's nothing to lose now."

"Hey! Don't talk like that."

"Sorry…..I just don't want to hurt him."

"Well, the only way to do that is to stay alive, you know that right?"

Emily just nodded.

"You seriously need to get some rest…..no funny business tonight ok." And she winked at her.

"Yes ma'am." Emily said sarcastically.

JJ paused for a moment, wandering whether to push her friend any more…. "Em….what did Doyle do to you when he had you?"

Emily turned away from JJ and looked at the table. She shook her head. Only slightly though…."I…I can't talk about it JJ….It's too…."

JJ could see tears welling in her eyes. She put her arms around Emily and just held her….."It's ok Em. You don't have to tell me. But whenever you're ready you know where I am."


End file.
